Thursday 31 October 2019 16:39, UK
Sir Alex Ferguson believes Aberdeen's new training ground and academy can help the club to compete at the highest level.
The club's former manager returned to the city to cut the ribbon at Cormack Park, which is phase one of a new community sports hub in the Kingsford area.
Built at a cost of £12m, the training facilities are part of a wider complex which will eventually encompass a new stadium with an anticipated capacity of 20,000.
Ferguson, who led Aberdeen to Cup Winners' Cup success against Real Madrid in 1983, said: "This will be the envy of many other clubs, not just in Scotland.
"The positive impact on performance and morale of best-in-class training facilities cannot be underestimated - and these facilities are up there with some of the best I've seen.
"There is no doubt that Cormack Park will help the club to attract, retain and develop the players and coaches it needs to compete at the highest level.
"The club has to be congratulated for pursuing the vision to develop these training facilities and taking on the significant challenge of building its new stadium on the adjacent land.
Aberdeen chairman Stewart Milne says they is still at least three-and-a-half years from moving into their new home ground, where work is yet to begin.
It will cost an estimated £43m to complete the project but the majority of funding will come from selling the club's current home at Pittodrie.
Situated less than a mile from Aberdeen city centre, the land it is built on once carried greater value and Milne wants to see that rise again after an economic slump.
He said: "At the moment, I think we would like to have [the stadium] ready for the summer of 2023, for season 2023/24.
"But we've got to recognise it's been a huge challenge raising the £12m to deliver phase one against a local economy that's really struggled.
"A key part of funding the new stadium will be the funds from the sale of Pittodrie but I think everyone knows what the property market in Aberdeen has been like for the last five years.
"We need to see that market strengthen up so that we can realise maximum value out of Pittodrie. I think the summer of 2023 is the sort of target we should be aiming for."
